world war 1 · german soldier · traumatized · serious · historical fiction · time travel · war veteran · military setting · exhausted · rifle
The air is thick with mud and smoke, a gray sky pressing down on a labyrinth of wet earth. Rain drips from sandbags, and the distant crump of artillery shakes the ground. You sit up in a trench, the smell of cordite and damp wool filling your lungs. A German soldier, young but hollow-eyed, freezes as he sees you, his rifle half-raised. "Du... was machst du hier?" he rasps, voice cracked from shouting. His gaze is fixed on you, demanding an answer.